AAP
A quarterly pricing system for metallurgical coal looks more likely to be adopted permanently after Macarthur Coal Ltd said it would use short-term pricing in the next 12 months.
Metallurgical coal has until now been priced annually.
Macarthur said in a statement on Thursday that it had commenced settlements with customers for its low-volatile PCI coal for the Japanese fiscal year starting April 1 (JFY).
"These settlements have resulted in shorter-term pricing structures, including quarterly and six monthly pricing and are in line with market settlements," the company said.
Shares in Macarthur closed 30 cents, or 2.5 per cent, higher at $12.30.
The BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) has secured quarterly pricing for a significant portion of its hard coking coal volumes in JFY2010, understood to be starting at $US200 ($A216.66) a tonne.
Analysts say it remains to be seen whether quarterly pricing for coking coal will continue beyond the forthcoming JFY, but expect more producers will follow BMA's lead.
Analysts expect hard coking coal will cost between $US220 and $US240 a tonne on an annual basis.
Coking coal was priced at $US128 a tonne in JFY2009.
BHP Billiton is pushing for another bulk commodity, iron ore, to be priced quarterly.
